tandoorichicken

Just to piggy back on jonr71's comments, women in particular may "stall out" for a couple of days naturally, then get back on track... periodically. It's not indicative of anything you're doing wrong per se, it's just bound to happen every now and then.

jonr71, muscle is technically heavier than fat, since it's mostly protein. You're still right that weight loss will slow if the body is burning muscle as it does so extremely slowly, since it's not an ideal situation and the body tries to preserve as much of itself as possible; furthermore, it's not a terribly efficient metabolic reaction. But from a physical standpoint, 1000 calories of protein weigh 250g, while 1000 calories of fat weigh about 112g.

-Nik

jacquelinepaterson

Thanks for all your support and advice, Jon....I'll try increasing my calories for 1 week to see if the scale starts moving again. I'm going to have a tough time with the concept of increasing calories to lose weight but I'm going to give it a shot. That means a jump from 900 cal per day to 1444. Gotta try something different....I can't stall after only 4 weeks. Thanks again...Any other advice would by appreciated.

tandoorichicken

@jacqueline,

I honestly think 900 calories is too few for anyone. 1200 calorie should be a minimum. If you're going to add around 500 calories though, might I suggest adding them as protein and fat? Furthermore, may I suggest altering your meals slightly such that you are not eating a quantity of carb and fat at the same time?

The rationale here is that when you eat carb in quantity, your insulin levels jump to try to shuttle away all that carb out of your bloodstream and into the tissues where it is used for energy. However, the body can only process one type of macronutrient at a time. Another function of insulin is to shuttle away the fat that you eat directly into your bodily fat stores, instead of to your liver to be processed into ketones, which are then used for energy. So just partitioning your carb and fat intake may provide an extra boost to fat loss — you won't be storing as much fat as you are burning.

Good luck!

-Nik

jacquelinepaterson

Thanks Nik....What great support. Thank you.This is all so confusing....If i understand correctly...Don't eat carbs and fat at the same sitting? ( I can't call it a meal because I'm kinda a grazer). I should keep them seperated by a couple hours? What about protein? Sorry for all the questions, I'm just a little confused.

tandoorichicken

Don't stress too much. You don't have to separate them 100%, just use your judgement. i.e., a roll with a hunk of butter, probably not good. Fatty steak and mashed potatoes? Probably not good either. But steak and a side of buttery asparagus, no problem. I consider veggies a "freebie," since they don't have enough starch/sugar to cause serious insulin disturbances; you can eat them till you're blue in the face and you still won't spike your insulin the way rice will. You could probably space cake and steak a few hours apart and be alright.

With protein, you can eat it with carb or fat, just be sure to eat it with something because the body has a hard time absorbing plain protein. It's called "rabbit starvation," and it comes from times when explorers in the arctic ate tons of lean rabbit meat and still managed to show signs of starvation.

I'm a grazer too but I've replaced all the cookies and crackers in my apartment with almonds, pumpkin seeds, peanut butter, and jerky. This stuff keeps me fairly not hungry (notice how I said not hungry, not "full") throughout the day.

-Nik

Built

I hesitate to recommend a movie star's diet plan as many are not fact-based, however, Suzanne Sommers' book Eat Great, Lose Weight, discusses in detail the benefits of proper food combining as Nik mentioned above re: the dangers of combining fats and carbs in the same meal. Also has some great recipes in it. I believe Eat to Live also explains this, as well as countless others. Aside from proper digestion, I found that simply partitioning certain food groups aides in limiting overeating as well.

jacquelinepaterson

Thanks alot everyone. I will look into both of those books. I really appreciate all the help.
I will try to partition what I eat throughout the day to see if this gets my weight loss moving again. A "stall" is very frustrating and depressing especially when you think your doing everything right. Thanks again all.

tandoorichicken

Just another thing I thought of... you said your weight loss stalled after four weeks. My thinking is that even if you have everything in your weight loss program nailed down to a T, you might still experience monthly moments of stagnation... periodically.

So just wait for a couple days to see if your engine fires up again.

-Nik

jacquelinepaterson

Thanks Nik...love the subtlety. lol

desertmountain

I completely get where you're coming from. Using Fitday I found out that certain foods keep me from losing weight and others actually cause me to gain weight even though I'm staying right on track with my fat-carb-pro balance & caloric intake. For me it's starchy foods & red meat, grains being the worse at causing weight gain. I've also read here that some people stall or gain with dairy, nuts & sweeteners.
Maybe you can experiment with avoiding certain types of foods for a week at a time to see if you'll get out of the stall or just look over your food journal to see if you've been eating more of something or maybe something new that could be the cause. I agree with the fiber concept b/c without enough fiber intake to keep things moving regularly I'm bloated, gain weight & sometimes feel downright yucky. I get my fiber by eating large amounts of raw veggies & salads everyday. If needed I'll take a fiber supplements but the ones with grains, like bran, only make it worse instead of better. I read one woman's post that she ups her protein and that breaks a stall for her. Lowering my caloric intake has never helped me break out of a stall.
Everyone's different but since I tend to stall-out a lot (ggrrrrr) I've been looking more closely at Fitday-tracking & finding foods that always cause a stall or a gain. Occasionally, I have no idea why I'm stalled, but when that happens it's always followed by a larger than usual weight loss for the week so I think it's just the body adjusting to this new lifestyle or resistant to let go of fat, or who knows what.
Good luck finding something that works for you Jacqueline.